The Nationals did the exact same thing with Jordan Zimmerman's injury last season. Rizzo and Johnson have said all year this was their plan and they're sticking to it.

The thing a lot of people don't realize is even without SS, (who's been great but he's had some rough outings as the season went on) the Nationals still have an excellent rotation. Gonzalez now is 18-7 with a 2.99 ERA. Zimmerman 9-8, 3.01. Jackson 9-9, 3.63, and Detweiler 9-6, 3.15. That's a rotation a lot of teams would love to have. And John Lannan, who got dumped into AAA, was very capable with a 10-13 record and 3.70 ERA last year. He most likely will take Strasburg's place in the rotation. he may not overpower batters but he'll be solid.

Then you throw in a bullpen where aside from the little used Henry Rodriguez, you've got seven relievers with five of them having ERAs under 3 and the other two about 3.50. So their pitching is not going to implode and crash when SS sits down. I really don't know why the media is making such a huge deal out of it. Would they want him pitching in the postseason? Sure. But if something did happen and he regressed that would be awful.

The great thing here about the Nationals is they were supposed to contend for a Wild Card but that's it. This season has been a blast. Now they're 7 1/2 up on Atlanta and are probably a season or two ahead of where they should be. They've gone through some terrible seasons but have drafted well, rebuilt the farm system and made some good FA moves. Plus they're very young, so it's not like they have a rapidly closing window either. If they lose in the playoffs it won't be the end of the world, they'll probably be pretty good now for a few years.

I've adopted the Nats as my NL team and I'm perfectly fine shutting him down, so are most of the fans I know and the ones calling in on local radio here too. In fact a running joke is that him sitting will hurt the offense more, since he's a pretty good hitting pitcher. (.260 I think)

Yeah, I don't think there would be a positive reaction around these parts if the Sox sat Chris Sale because of a prescribed plan, even if the Sox had the best record in baseball.

It seems completely unprecedented to me to sit an ace pitcher in the middle of September and to have him not available for the playoffs when he seems completely healthy. That's insane, it's as if the Nationals assume they'll have the opportunity to win a World Series in years to come without realizing they're currently the best team in baseball.

It also makes no sense to me as they could have skipped starts and/or innings throughout the year and have him available for the playoffs without pitching any more total innings than he will anyway.

I wonder how you and other fans will feel if you lose out because a poor pitching performance and dont get back there in upcoming years. Regrets could be mighty deep.

Well, Strasburg could have a bad night in the playoffs just as easily as any of their other pitchers. In two of his last five starts he got clobbered.

Of course I think most Nats fans or followers want him to pitch in the postseason. But say the worst happens and he does blow his arm out and he's done permanently? Then that's a scenario nobody wants to risk.

Will this decision kill them in the postseason? Maybe/maybe not. He's one guy, and it's not like he's carrying the team on his shoulders. They're 32 games over .500 for a lot of reasons, he's just one of them.

Where it might hurt them the most is say if they play the Reds or someone like them in the playoffs. A team with outstanding pitching and an average to decent offense, just like Washington. I can see a lot of 2-1 type games there.

Well, Strasburg could have a bad night in the playoffs just as easily as any of their other pitchers. In two of his last five starts he got clobbered.

Of course I think most Nats fans or followers want him to pitch in the postseason. But say the worst happens and he does blow his arm out and he's done permanently? Then that's a scenario nobody wants to risk.

Will this decision kill them in the postseason? Maybe/maybe not. He's one guy, and it's not like he's carrying the team on his shoulders. They're 32 games over .500 for a lot of reasons, he's just one of them.

Where it might hurt them the most is say if they play the Reds or someone like them in the playoffs. A team with outstanding pitching and an average to decent offense, just like Washington. I can see a lot of 2-1 type games there.

If you and other national fans can live with it, that is all that matters I guess.

This is absolutely insane. One of the best pitchers in the league this year won't be pitching in the playoffs. Imagine if he blows out his arm his first start next year.

This is absolutely insane. One of the best pitchers in the league this year being *completely* overworked when he has *already* had a major surgery at such a young age??? Imagine if he blows out his arm his first playoff start.

See how the above could just as easily be argued?

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Ridiculousness across all sports:

(1) "You have no valid opinion because you never played the game."
(2) "Stats are irrelevant. This guy just doesn't know how to win."

If you and other national fans can live with it, that is all that matters I guess.

If he was super-critical to the team or their only decent starter then I might feel differently, but the Nats have played 136 games this season and he's only pitched in 27. The supporting cast is pretty good too.

If he was super-critical to the team or their only decent starter then I might feel differently, but the Nats have played 136 games this season and he's only pitched in 27. The supporting cast is pretty good too.

This is probably the 1st time in the history of baseball someone has tried to argue that a team's #1 starter is not super-critical to their success.

Of course I think most Nats fans or followers want him to pitch in the postseason. But say the worst happens and he does blow his arm out and he's done permanently? Then that's a scenario nobody wants to risk.

Then why let him pitch ever again?

I find it unbelievable that there are people who bring up this statement like it is some kind of inevitability. There is no way to predict when a UCL injury will happen. NONE. For all the coddling being done to Strasburg right now, he could just as well injure the elbow in a spring training game next year.

The guy is one of the best pitchers in the league and I've yet to hear news that his elbow is anything but healthy. I'd love to hear some words coming straight out of Strasburg's mouth about what he thinks of all this. Everything I've heard so far has been filtered through other sources, either Boras or the team officials. It makes me wonder if there is some kind of gag order put on him to avoid speaking to the press about the subject.

This is probably the 1st time in the history of baseball someone has tried to argue that a team's #1 starter is not super-critical to their success.

He's their marquee name pitcher but the other four starters have ERAs of 2.99, 2.98, 3.63 and 3.15, all four with 140-175 innings pitched so far. This isn't a situation like the Sox where they have Peavy and then Sale/Quintana who are tiring and then fill in the blank.

The conception that the Nationals are SS and a bunch of stiffs still seems to be what most in the media think. As if he's the only one responsible for them being now 33 games over .500.